A CMS plan to keep payments to Medicare Advantage flat in 2027 roiled health insurance stocks this week. Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage plans As enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans grows, so do concerns about how well the insurance works, including from those who say they have become trapped in the private plans as their health declines. In Medicare Advantage, the federal government pays private insurance companies to manage health care for people who are 65 and older or disabled. Kronick has argued that switching seniors to Medicare Advantage plans has cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more than keeping them in the government-run Medicare program, because of unbridled medical coding excesses. “They mostly are very profitable, just not as profitable as shareholders expected.”The government pays Medicare Advantage plans higher rates to cover sicker patients.